The appointment of Ibrahim Agboola Gambari as Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs is an
indication that Secretary General Kofi Annan was regaining some of his clout and that the African
group has finally retrieved some of its lost prestige. Those with institutional memmory will
recall the effective role played by Ambassador Gambari in 1991 as chairman of the African group in
facilitating the election of the first African Secretary General. When delegates from that continent
with varied candidates were about to lose their focus, he ably pulled everyone together behind a
consensus shortlist.

It took six months of high pressure
diplomatic maneuvers to make the appointment. The British realized that, with two other
Under-Secretary Generals in the Cabinet of the Secretary General and Security, they could not
hang on to the post vacated by Sir Kieran Prendergast. The Americans, who originally held the
post until the late eighties did not seek it. They had already proposed a newly appointed
USG for Administration and Management and a new UNICEF chief. Some Europeans went for it on the
claim that they had lost UNDP, although a Portuguese was appointed for UNHCR and a Swede for
IOIS, the internal oversight office. The Italian ambassador to Paris was mentioned, although
the Italians have the Vienna Office and the (almost fictitious) Drug Control Program.

By early June, it came down to two internal names well known and personally appreciated by the
Secretary General: Danilo Turk and Ibrahim Gambari. Turk, an Assistant Secretary General and
former Permanent Representative of Slovenia was getting such strong support from certain senior
officials that one of them, who has contacts with the media and claims the ear of the Secretary
General passed on his wishful thinking as a done deal. On Wednesday 8 June, a confident reporter
asked during the briefing when will Mr. Turk's appointment be announced. A surprised yet cool
spokesman correctly responded that no decision was yet made but that it was expected within days.
Obviously, the capable and highly regarded Slovenian diplomat had nothing to do with the ploy to
force the Secretary General's hand; neither did the unsuspecting reporter. Two days later, on
Friday, Professor Gambari, former Nigerian Foreign Minister and Permanent Representative was
officially named to take over as of 1 July.

Despite, or ironically because of, his strong
credentials, Mr. Gambari did not have an easy time since he joined the Secretariat as a Special
Adviser in 1999. He had to work almost single-handedly together with an experienced and loyal
personal assistant while gaining support for two important achievements: the New Partnership
for African Development (NEPAD) and a 2003 agreement over Angola where he helped shape the
reintegration of ex-soldiers, the organization of the electoral process and the mobilization
of resources for a successful international donor's conference. As reported in an earlier issue,
that achievement drove some in New York to propose keeping him regularly in Luanda, away from an
influential presence at headquarters. Now they have him as the top Political official next to the
Secretary General. Good for him.